We’ve now migrated 95% of all active tasks (excluding subtasks) in our Asana space to use Custom Task Types - and we’re not going back - it’s a massive UX improvement.
Instead of showing task statuses in a dropdown that is buried in the Fields section of a task, each task shows its status directly where the checkmark used to be - more visible, more informative, more intuitive.
In case you want to do the same, I’ve put together the below guide of how you can enhance your existing workflows by migrating your Sections or Single-select fields (of statuses / stages / phases) to using Custom Task Types instead.
Not sure what task types are, or what are their benefits? You may perhaps want to start here.
Before you proceed, please make sure you review this article, listing the caveats and current limitations of Custom task types.
1. Map your Single-select field (or Sections) to a Task Type
1.1. Edit your single-select field to display all its options. If you use Asana in a browser, you could open another Asana tab and click on Customize > Task types and templates and click on the +Add task type button and then Create new at the bottom of the dropdown list.
1.2. Type the name of your task type. Note, this should be written in the singular and describe what your task type actually is . This is different to the name of your single-select field which may be called ‘Status’, for example so don’t just copy/paste it over to the task type.
As a clue for naming your new task type, look to the name of your ongoing process project. If your project is called ‘Requests’, your task type should be called ‘Request’. Here are some more examples of task type names: To-do, Lead, Client, Quote, Proposal, Contract, Invoice, Expense, Post, Campaign, Bug, Applicant, Vendor, Order, Property etc.
1.3. Recreate all the options in the task type. For ease of copy-pasting across, place both tabs side by side, like this:
You will notice that the statuses of a task type are divided into two clearly defined categories: Active and Done. The statuses in Active will keep the task incomplete, while the Done will complete the task, automatically, without any rules involved. So make sure to choose wisely! In the above example, we have decided that ‘PMO approved’ and the ‘Rejected’ statuses will both close/complete the task.
Note, that you do not need to copy/paste any emojis into the name of your task type’s statuses. Instead, paste them into the Custom character or right-click and select emoji if you are using a browser. (In the desktop app, use Win+Period, or if you are on a Mac use Ctrl+Cmd+Space)
If you are using Sections instead of a Single-select field for your statuses, use the same logic to map them over to a task type, like this:
Do not remove your single-select field or delete your sections, yet!
2. Convert all tasks to your new Task type
2.1. In the list view, remove all filters in your project to reveal every task in the project. Optionally, but recommended, reveal the completed tasks too.
2.2. In the list view, select all the tasks in the project; incomplete and optionally, but recommended, the completed tasks too. For more control, click on the first task, just scroll down, hold shift and click on the last task. Once selected, use the bulk-action bar to convert task to your new task type, as per below:
This action is safe to carry out because there are no rules involved with your task type, yet.
You will notice all the incomplete tasks will be marked as your first Active status, in my example, they are all at ‘
Validation’ status, while all your completed tasks will be marked as the first Done status, which in my case is ‘
PMO approved’ status. This is not a problem, we are going to fix this with a temporary rule…
3. Create a temporary Rule to map all Task Type Statuses
To efficiently map all your single-select field’s status values to the new task type, I recommend creating a temporary rule that we can then apply to all tasks. This rule also overcomes the current limitation that you cannot change the task type status of multiple tasks as a bulk action.
3.1. Click on Customize > Rules > Add.
3.2. In the rule Editor, for your When, select the first option on the right panel, Rule is run manually and label it as ‘Map statuses’ or anything you like.
3.3. In the Check if boxes, populate them with all the statuses of your single-select status field by using the Otherwise if…
If you are using Sections instead of a single-select field for your statuses in your project, replace all the Check if boxes with the Task is in section… condition.
3.4. In the Do this boxes, scroll in the right panel and choose Set [name of your task type] to... (not Set task type to, which is listed in the actions, below) and choose the equivalent status as your Check if boxes. Do this to each of your Do this boxes:
Your rule should end up look like this if you are using single-select field for your status:
For the first status, in my case, ‘ Validation’ was already set automatically to all incomplete tasks when they were converted to a task type in step 2.2 because it is my first Active status. So you could skip this action. The same applies to your first Done status which was also set to all completed tasks in step 2.2.
3.5. Publish/save the rule once you have mapped all your statuses.
4. Run rule on all tasks to set the correct Task Type Statuses
Ok so we are ready to map all our tasks to the correct task types status but before we get all excited, it’s always a good idea to test your rule on a few tasks before we proceed with applying in bulk!
4.1. In the list view, again, make sure to remove all filters in your project to reveal every task in the project. Optionally but recommended, reveal the completed tasks too. You may also want to keep your project Grouped by your Sections or the Single-select field of your status.
4.2. In the list view, right click on a task (which does not have the correct task type status, such as in the second group or section) and select Run a rule and select the rule we labelled in step 3.2.
Repeat on a few tasks with different statuses and verify that the rule has indeed corrected the task type’s status, matching your single-select field’s option or the Section that it is still currently in. If you are confident your rule is working correctly, move to the next step.
4.3. In the list view, multi-select 50 tasks at a time (this is due to a current limitation for triggering rules manually). For more control, click on the first task, just scroll down, hold shift and click on the 50th task. Once selected, use the bulk-action bar to run our rule manually, as per below:
4.4. Repeat step 4.3. in batches of 50, until all the tasks in the project are converted. Make sure that all tasks have the correct task type status.
Ok, we are almost there!
5. Setup your Project for the new Task type
5.1. Review all your project’s view tabs and replace any Filter, Sort, Group settings that are using your Single-select status field (or Sections) to instead use your new task type.
You will find your task type at the bottom of the dropdowns of these settings with an ‘A’ icon in a square.
Note certain caveats in section 2 & 6 of this article.
5.2. Review the Dashboard tab(s) and check for any charts that are using your Single-select status field (or Sections) and replace them with your new task type.
Note certain caveats regarding Dashboards in section 6 of this article.
5.3. Review all the rules in your project. Scan through to find all the rules that are using your single-select status field. If you are instead using Sections, you will note a 
icon next to your Section name in the List or Board views; click on that icon to edit that rule.
Edit all these rules accordingly, by remapping their trigger, conditions and actions to use your task type, where applicable, by replacing the following:
- When… to '[Task type name] is changed…
- Check if… to '[Task type name] is…
- Do this… to 'Set '[Task type name] to…
Note certain caveats regarding Rules in section 5 of this article.
5.4. Make sure to review any rules that might be adding tasks to the project or into particular Sections. These rules are listed below the project’s rules in the Customize menu.
If you have rules from other projects that move tasks into particular Sections, you could leave your Sections in place so those rules don’t break. However, it is recommended to Group your project by your Task type’s statuses instead of Sections; so any Sections will not be ‘visible’ in such a view. You could remap the rules to set a particular task type status if they land in a particular Section, for example.
Remember that any task add into your project could be converted into a task type by using a simple rule such as ‘When task is added to the project, then convert to task type’. And there could be cases where another task type from another project could be converted to your task type when it enters your project/process. For example, when a ‘Lead’ task type is converted into a ‘Client’ task type, when a lead is closed & won, for instance.
5.5. Go to Customize > Project settings (at the bottom) and set the default task to your new task type. You can also set this in Customize > Task types and templates and click on the ... to Set as default.
Note that, going forward, this will apply to all newly created tasks and subtasks. If you don’t want your subtasks to also be task types, checkout the workaround here, where you can also vote for this setting to be optional.
6. Clean up
6.1. Delete the temporary rule we created in part 3 of this guide.
6.2. If your Single-select status field is in your library, choose to Remove it from the project, instead of deleting it! This is the moment of truth - if your Customize menu button turns red, it means a rule broke because it was using your single-select field and you didn’t do step 5.3 correctly. Click into the Customize menu to see which rule it is and just take note of it’s name. Add your single-select field back into the project and then go revisit the rule to fix it, now that it will reveal what your single-select field’s options were. Remove your single-select status field from the project again, and if the Customize menu button no longer turns red that means you are good to go!
Only delete your single-select field from the library if you are certain that no one else in your organization is using it. The benefit of deleting your single-select field is that it will also clean up all residual values which you will notice will remain in the task details’ Fields table. You could have manually cleared these values during step 4.3. but there’s no harm in doing this after the main procedure.
If you are using Sections, it could be premature to delete them at this stage. You could start using the project with your task types for a few days to make sure all rules are running as expected. Otherwise, if you are confident that NO rules are actioning anything to do with Sections (for example when tasks move from one section to another), then go ahead and delete all Sections, one by one. Obviously choose to keep all tasks and just delete the section. Wait for all tasks to move from the recently deleted section and appear in the next existing section, before deleting the next section. Do this process slowly but steadily as there could be some unexpected behaviour with tasks orphaned from not belonging in a section - it’s happened!
6.3. Edit and revise any custom scripts, 3rd-party apps or integrators such as zapier.com that use your single-select field or Sections, to instead use your custom task type instead. This part could be a bit ‘painful’ but trust me, it will be worth it in the long run.
Enjoy your revamped Asana projects with your new custom task types! 
Resources
- 🚦 Custom Task types: What you need to know before you go all in
- 😱 The Asana feature I wish I’d discovered sooner: Custom Task types
- Asana Help Center
Richard Sather
Asana Solutions Partner & Forum Leader
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